Health, 8(a) and Hawaiian bills are headed for a vote = : ICT [2007/10/26]

From: Subject: Health, 8(a) and Hawaiian bills are headed for a vote : ICT [2007/10/26] Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:33:51 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: file://C:\Documents and Settings\Darren Jones\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\GR4GD036\Health 8(a) and Hawaiian bills are headed for a vote ICT 2007-10-26 (2).htm X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 Health, 8(a) and Hawaiian bills are headed for a vote = : ICT [2007/10/26] Analysis WASHINGTON - Three of the major = Native-specific bills in the current 110th Congress will be voted on = soon in the Senate and the House of Representatives, according to an = Oct. 22 release from the National Congress of American Indians."=20 name=3Ddescription>

Health, 8(a) and = Hawaiian bills=20 are headed for a vote

Posted: October 26, = 2007

by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country=20 Today

Analysis =

WASHINGTON -=20 Three of the major Native-specific bills in the current 110th = Congress=20 will be voted on soon in the Senate and the House of = Representatives,=20 according to an Oct. 22 release from the National Congress of = American=20 Indians.

NCAI expects the Indian Health Care Improvement = Act=20 reauthorization bill (S. 1200 in the Senate), the Native Hawaiian = bill=20 (H.R. 505 in the House) and a small-business contracting bill that = would=20 not alter the Small Business Administration's 8(a)=20 minority-preference-in-government-contracting program (H.R. 3867) = to be=20 voted on the week of Oct. 29. The outlook varies for each of them, = said a=20 lobbyist, who went on to provide analysis from within the lobbying = community in Washington. From an abundance of caution toward = congressional=20 sensitivities on votes that are likely to be close, the lobbyist = spoke on=20 condition of anonymity. Further analysis, provided on condition of = anonymity for the same reason, came from within Washington's = Indian=20 organizational community.

Updating health care through = IHCIA=20 reauthorization, a growing priority of Indian country in the past = few=20 two-year congresses, has fallen by the wayside due to resistance = from the=20 Republican presidential administration in recent years, leading = the bill's=20 advocates to expect a move that would prevent the bill from coming = to a=20 final vote. In the Senate, that blocking move may take the form of = a=20 filibuster, or unlimited debate as a delaying tactic; it will not = take the=20 form of anonymous holds, which are permitted only under the rules = of=20 unanimous consent to approve a measure. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., = the=20 Senate majority leader, has dispensed with that set of unanimous = consent=20 rules and asserted the majority leader's power to bring a bill to = the=20 floor for open debate and an up-or-down vote.

A major = difference=20 in the two approaches is that instead of placing a few anonymous = holds,=20 opponents have to muster a host of Republicans who will stand up = and speak=20 out against an Indian health care bill.

The up-or-down = vote=20 requires 51 votes for final passage. But because of two Senate=20 institutions, getting to such a vote on the IHCIA reauthorization = will=20 likely take 60 votes, possibly on not one but two motions. The = first would=20 be a motion to proceed to a final vote on the substance, which = usually=20 occurs by unanimous consent. But the hard-line opposition to the = bill of=20 some Republicans means unanimous consent to proceed could fail, = leading to=20 a vote on the motion to proceed; that motion would require 60 = votes for=20 the bill to proceed to a final vote on the substance.

The = debate=20 prior to a final vote is when Republicans might deploy the = filibuster,=20 unlimited debate as a delaying tactic. A second casting of 60 = votes would=20 then be required to invoke cloture, ending debate and moving on to = the=20 final vote on the substance of the bill, with its requirement of a = simple=20 majority of 51 for passage.

As of late Oct. 23, no one was = certain=20 about the outcome. The bill's Democratic sponsors, led by Sen. = Byron=20 Dorgan, D-N.D., can count on a 51-vote majority, and they probably = have 60=20 votes to invoke cloture if it comes to that. But 60 on a motion to = proceed=20 may prove harder to find.

Late in the business day Oct. = 23, it=20 also transpired that agreement has not been reached within the = Senate=20 Finance Committee on how to pay for the bill's costs - how to = offset them=20 within a straitened federal budget. Some senators are waiting to = see what=20 the so-called ''revenue-pay for agreement'' looks like before = stating=20 where they stand on the bill.

Especially with two = Democratic=20 co-sponsors, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack = Obama of=20 Illinois, away from Washington on the presidential campaign trail, = Democrats were still relying on some Republicans to cross the = aisle on=20 behalf of Indian health care.

Late Oct. 24, party leaders = struck a=20 deal that would permit the health care bill to come to the floor = for a=20 vote, in return for offering a Republican amendment that would = strip the=20 urban Indian health care title from the bill. Urban Indian health = care=20 advocates consider the amendment unlikely to pass, but added that = its=20 offer on the full Senate floor is a bad sign. Procedural = complications=20 have pushed a vote back to the week beginning Oct. 29.

The = Small=20 Business Contracting Program Improvements Act of 2007, H.R. 3867, = would do=20 nothing to hinder the participation of tribes and Alaska Native=20 Corporations in the SBA's 8(a) contracting program. But amendments = offered=20 to a previous contracting bill by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., = have put=20 advocates on their guard against amendments. Rep. Edolphus Towns, = D-N.Y.,=20 is the leading candidate to offer one. The unamended bill contains = provisions that will assist non-Native minority businesses, and = NCAI=20 identifies them as another reason to support the bill.

The = morning=20 of Oct. 25, the Democratic majority in the House pulled the bill = from the=20 day's schedule. According to an estimation available on Capitol = Hill at=20 short notice, the bill may come up for consideration the week = beginning=20 Oct. 29.

=20